5 Sure Ways to Choose a Realtor®

If you're planning on moving this year, you'll need some help in selling your home. Here are some suggestions on finding the best Realtor® in your community to assist in marketing and selling your home:

• Choose your Realtor® with as much as care as you would a lawyer or doctor. Friends, neighbors and co-workers are often good sources for referrals. Try to find out as much as possible about their home buying or selling experience. What kind of service did they receive? Would they choose this Realtor® again?
• Attend open houses to observe sales associates in action. How familiar were they with the property? Did they show the home in a professional manner?
• Look for sold signs in your neighborhood. A Realtor® with a successful track record deserves consideration.
• Talk to real estate agents who have experience selling homes in the same price range as yours. You can get leads by reading the real estate ads in your local newspaper.
• Target local real estate companies. Realtors® who work your area are best equipped to answers questions about schools, businesses, places of worship and other services of interest to prospective buyers.

Once you've narrowed your choice to two or three Realtors®, ask the Realtor® the following questions:

• How long have you been licensed?
• How long have you actively worked in the area?
• How many home sales have you closed in the last three months?
• Do you work full time as a Realtor®?
• How will you market my home to prospective buyers?
• Are you a member of the National Association of Realtors®?
• Have you earned any specialty professional real estate designations?

In the end it comes down to trust. Sellers have to make a lot of important decisions and, naturally, will be relying on their Realtor® to assist them in making the best decision. A seller should choose a Realtor® and real estate company that they feel have the skills and expertise to give them good advice.

Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.